Method of and apparatus for conditioning business machine cards and the like



Oct. 28, 1958 J K DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORCONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 v 9Sheets-Sheet 1 Ina/$17 502"; Jaime; 1 puma/z 627L952? flake rm waftfw HD e yer r 60% Ties/ 5 Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825 METHODOF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKEFiled Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-meet 2 Inc/@3221; James K D u no an61-12652 4/ D0 e uze CUdfZca/n H Dra /ey- (fies...

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONINGBUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 25, 1955frat/ems mes K 0mm JZQ ZH poerzzey- 79.2 4 a-frce v5 (ac-2& are

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ET AL 2,857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THELIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCANETAL 2,857,825

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THELIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 IInlll a0 %,WM* W Y @Zfo niilsOct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONINGBUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THE LIKE 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. 25, 1955JraJeraZavg you-rue; K Dara/cam 677-126 2? H Paar-rue? (/JdzfZfd/am HBayer 4, ZM/Wn w Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ET AL $857,825

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METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSINESS MACHINE CARDS AND THELIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 cry-m y;

Oct. 28, 1958 J. K. DUNCAN ETAL 2,857,825

. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING BUSI S MACHINE CARDS AND THELIKE Filed Jan. 25, 1955 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 747 I f zz/3%,:

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United States METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDI- TIQNING BUSINESSMACHINE CARDS AND THE LHKE Application January 25, 1955, Serial No.484,052

18 Claims. (Cl. 92-68) The present invention relates to a method of andapparatus for conditioning cards used in business machines.

The successful use of sorting and tabulating machines of the type usingpunched cards depends upon such cards being maintained in good physicalcondition. Experience has shown that when punched cards pass through thehands of the general public in the form of checks or the like, a largeproportion become sufficiently worn or damaged as to fail to feedproperly and to register accurately in the business machines in whichthey are subsequently processed. The mutilation may take various forms,varying from a dog-cared condition to severe crumpling, creasing,spindling and tearing. in addition, a card may have foreign objectsattached which prevent it from operating as intended, such as staples,gummed tape or the like.

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide amethod of and apparatus for restoring to usable condition damaged andmutilated business machine cards or the like. It is another object toprovide a procedure for reconditioning mutilated business machine cardswhich is capable of restoring the cards to their original crisp, flatcondition and to the original thickness and dimensional outline.

It is another object to provide a method of renewing business machinecards which is purely mechanical and which does not require the use ofany moisture, chemicals or additives whatsoever. It is a related objectto provide a restoring method and apparatus which is extremely rapid,being capable of treating cards individually at a speed on the order of300eards per minute.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device forconditioning business machine cards which is not only capable ofrestoring a worn or mutilated card to a flat condition but which doesnot have any harmful effect on new cards, and which is therefore welladapted for treating all incoming cards regardless of condition and asan inexpensive preliminary step to the sorting and tabulating proceduresto which the cards are normally subjected.

It is still another object to provide an apparatus for conditioningbusiness machine cards by mechanical treatment of the card body butwhich includes means for automatically diverting, for manual attention,any cards carrying foreign objects, such as staples, pieces of gummedtape, or the like prior to treatment.

it is still a further object to provide a device for conditioningbusiness machine cards which is quiet in operation, attractive inappearance, and well suited for use in a business oifice.

'It is a further object to provide an apparatus for renewing businessmachine cards which is simple and durable in construction, which is easyto operate and to maintain, and which is capable of treating any make orsize of card.

'Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent uponreading the attached description and upon reference to the drawings, inwhich:

atent O Figure 1 is an elevation of the card-conditioning device withthe cover and frame plate removed to expose the roller arrangement anddriving mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view of the gauging unit looking along the line 6-6 in Fig.2.

Fig. 7 is a top view of the knurling and ironing unit.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the unit looking along the line 8-8 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is another side view'looking along the line 9-9 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic perspective showing the knurling and ironingrollers acting upon a business machine card.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken through theinterengaging teeth of the knurling rollers.

Fig. 12 is a diagram similar to Fig. 11, but showing the effect upon abusiness machine card.

Fig. 13 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary section of a treated cardafter the same has passed through the ironing rollers.

Fig. 14 shows an alternate arrangement of knurling rollers in which theknurling is applied to the card in ribbonlike areas with ironing takingplace between the steps.

Fig.15 is a schematic diagram of the gauging and deflecting arrangement.

Fig. 16 is a side view of a modified knurling and ironing unit lookingalong the line 16-16 in Fig. 17.

Fig. 17 is a top view of the knurling and ironing unit.

Fig. 18'is an end view of the unit shown in Figs. 16 and 17.

Fig. 19 is a section taken along the line 19-19 in- Fig. 16.

Fig. 20 is a diagrammatic section of the driving arrangement as viewedalong the line 20-20 in Fig. 17.

Fig. 20a is a diagram illustrating the straight path of adjustment ofthe knurling and ironing rollers.

Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic perspective showing the modified knurling andironing rollers acting upon the business machine card.

Fig. 22 is a greatly enlarged perspective showing the structure of theteeth used on the modified knurling rollers.

Figs. 23 and 24 are fragmentary sections taken axially and transverselyon one of the knurling rollers and corresponding to the section lines23-23 and 24-24 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 25 is a fragmentary section taken along the lines 25-25 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 26 is a fragmentary section taken along the lines 26-26 in Fig. 21.

Fig. 27 is an enlarged section'or diagram showing the effect of themodified knurling rollers.

Figs. 28 and 29 are corresponding sections showing the card after thefirst and second ironing operations, respectively.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that we do not intend to limit theinvention to such embodiment but intend to cover all modifications andalternative constructions and uses falling within the spirit and scopeof the appended claims.

Turning now to the drawings, the card conditioning device indicated at20 is generally rectangular in shape, having a frame which includes apair of vertical mounting plates 21, 22 enclosed by protective covers23, 24 which protect the mechanism and provide a pleasing anduncluttered appearance. Mounted at the left hand or input end of thedevice (Figs. 1 and 2) is a feeder 25 in which the cards to be treatedare stacked for automatic feeding. At the right hand or output end adelivery hopper 26 is provided in which the treated cards are stackedfor convenient removal. In use a stack of cards, indicated at 30, isplaced in the feeder 25, the cards being supported on an inclined feedplate 31. For the purpose of urging the cards toward the feedermechanism, a pressure plate unit 33 is provided having a slidable frame34 and pres sure plate 35, the frame 34 being adapted to ride in slots36 formed in a slide plate 37.

Mounted at the bottom of the feeder 25 is an intermittent feedingmechanism 40. Such mechanism includes a rubber feed roller 41 rotatablymounted at the end of a rocking lever 42 and normally biased toward thestack of cards by a spring 43. For the purpose of rotating the feedroller 41 and for driving the other rotating elements in the cardconditioning device, a motor is provided. Included in the driving trainfrom the motor 50 is a speed reduction pulley 51, mounted on a crossshaft 52 having an output gear 53. The latter gear meshes with a gear 54rigidly coupled to a gear 55. The gear 54 drives a gear 56 having aclose coupled cam or eccentric 57, the purpose of which will shortly bemade clear. The gear 56 also serves to drive a gear 58 on a cross shaft59. Meshing with the gear 58 is a planetary gear 60 which is coupled tothe feed roller 41 by means of an overrunning clutch 61. For the detailsof the above driving train, interconnecting the motor 50 and feedroller, reference is made to the sectional views, Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

Means are further provided for oscillating the feed roller lever 42 tomove the feed roller into and out of engagement with the lowermost cardin the stack 30. Such action is provided by a cam follower roller 62which is located at the lower end of the lever 42 and which ridesagainst the cam 57. The eccentricity of the cam 57 is relatively smallso that the range of movement of the feed roller 41 is limited toapproximately inch. The rate of oscillation or feed is preferably on theorder of 300 cards per minute at a feed roller speed of about 155 feetper minute.

Centered between the frame plates 21, 22 at the output of the feedmechanism is a pull roller and gauge unit 70. The latter includes a pairof pull rollers 71, 72, the roller 71 being driven from gear 54 via agear 71a at the rate of about 330 feet per minute. speed and employingan oscillating rate of about 300 oscillations per minute, standardbusiness machine cards will be spaced about four and onehalf inchesapart. The delivery speed may be increased or decreased as desiredsimply by changing the relative diameters of the motor I drive pulleysand without making any other adjustments.

After leaving the pull rollers 71, 72 the card is passed between gaugingrollers 73, 74, driven by gears 73a, 74a, from the gear 54 referred toabove (Fig. 4). The roller 74 is mounted in the unit for limited bodilymovement thereby permitting it to yield when engaged by a card having anattached staple, piece of gummed tape or the like. For this purpose theroller 74 is journaled in a subframe 75 which is downwardly biased by aspring 75a and pivoted on an eccentric axis 76 (Fig. 6). Coupled to thesubframe 75 is an arm 77 which engages a screw 78 in a multiplying lever79. For the purpose of making electrical contact upon arrival of a cardof greater than standard thickness, a switch 80 is provided havingcontacts 81, 82, the contact 82 being positionable on a manuallyoperated micrometer screw 83. The biased roller does not, however, yieldwhere the card is simply buckled or otherwise deformed out of its normalplane. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, this is due tothe fact that the sensing At this I rollers are in contact with only alimited area of the card and the spring pressure is, therefore,sufiicient to temporarily remove the buckling or other deformation oversuch limited area. The significance of this is that the sensing rollerscause a card to be rejected only where the actual thickness has beenincreased by some foreign object or by folding a portion of the cardupon itself, and cards which do not have an increase in actual thicknessare thus free to pass into the knurling and ironing rollers where thebuckling and other deformation is removed.

The circuit associated with the electrical contacts will be discussed ata later point. It will suffice for the present to say that closure ofthe contacts results in the diversion of the nonstandard cards into aspecial hopper.

For transporting the cards horizontally within the card conditioningdevice, a transport roller unit is provided having rollers 9192, 93-94and 95-96. Each set of rollers has means for varying the bearingpressure and the rollers are rubber-faced so that the cards aretransported without slippage through the roller unit to the output end.For the purpose of driving the rollers 91, 93, gears 91a, 93a thereonmesh with a gear 97, the latter being driven by the gear 53 previouslyreferred to. The roller 95 has a similar gear 950, which is coupled tothe gear 93a via an idler gear 98. As the result of all of the mechanismdescribed above, cards are produced at the output of the transportroller unit 90 in regular succession for feeding into the knurling unit,to be described in the paragraphs which follow.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel card conditioningmeans is provided in the form of a knurling and ironing unit havingknurling rollers 101, 102 and ironing rollers 103, 104. Briefly stated,the knurling rollers are constructed and arranged to deform the cardlocally at closely spaced points over an extended area so as to producea distributed, non-directional strain pattern which serves to removepre-existing strain resulting from crushing, creasing or the like. Theironing rollers are provided for substantially removing the deformationimparted by the knurling rollers and for restoring the card to itsoriginal thickness when new. The nature of the surfaces on the twoknurling rollers and the adjustment and operation thereof will bedescribed in detail at a later point.

Attention will first be directed toward the specific construction of thesupporting and driving means in the wunit 100 as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and9. The unit 100 includes the side plates 111, 112 which are rigidlysecured to the main frame plates by suitable spacers. The lowermostrollers 101, 103 are journaled in the plates 11], 112 in suitableantifriction bearings. Mounted at the ends of the rollers are gears 101aand 103a, respectively, the latter being interconnected by a centralgear 113 which is rigidly connected to a cross shaft 114. Secured to theopposite end of the cross shaft 114 is a drive gear 115 which in turnmeshes with a gear 116 which turns idly on a pivot shaft 117. The gear116 serves to drive the two upper rollers 102, 104 by means of planetarydrive gears 102a, 1040 respectively coupled thereto.

For the purpose of varying the position of the upper knurling roller 192relative to the lower knurling roller, the upper knurling roller ismounted in a pair of arms 121, 122 which are pivoted to the pivot shaft117. The position of the arms 121, 122 is established by adjustablestops. The stops in the present instance are formed by bolts 125, 126anchored in the side plates and having adjusting nuts 127, 128. The armsare biased against the stops by means of springs 129, 130 retained byspringadjusting nuts 131, 132. The springs 129, 130 are preferably quitestiff so that the knurling rollers are positively set with respect toone another and with yielding taking place only under very exceptionalcircumstances.

A similar arrangement is used for positioning the irongames ing roller104 with respect to the roller 103. Thus, the ironing roller 104 ismounted in a pair of arms 141, 142 pivoted to the shaft 117 and havingadjustable stops at their outer ends. Bolts 145, 146 are provided havingadjusting nuts 147, 148, the arms being kept in seated position on thenuts by means of springs 149, 150 having spring-adjusting nuts 151, 152.The amount of ironing pressure may be readily predetermined by adjustingthe normal spacing between the ironing rollers, and by adjusting theamount of spring pressure exerted by the springs 149, 150. i

It will be apparent that the above arrangement used in the knurling andironing unit 100 enables the adjustment of both sets of rollers withoutafiecting the normal driving of the upper rollers via the planetarygears 102a, 104a. Power for driving purposes is led in through spur gear155, which is coupled to the gear 95a associated with the roller 95 inthe transport roller unit 90.

Attention may next be given to the arrangement and form of the upraisedknurling points shown in Figs. 10, 11 and 12. Preferably, the points arearranged in a twodimensional pattern, with the points on one of therollers in point-to-valley, or meshing, engagement with the points onthe other. When the pattern is uniform, i. e., when the axial andperipheral spacing is constant, meshing may be achieved by offsettingthe rollers both axially and peripherally by a distance equal toone-half of the unit spacing. The peripheral offset may be establishedand permanently maintained simply by phasing the rollers properly withrespect to the gears which interconnect them.

We have further found it desirable to aline the points in straight axialand peripheral rows. This may be easily accomplished by cutting V-shapedgrooves in a blank roller both axially and at right angles thereto. Withregard to the peripheral grooves, they may be made in multiple and freeof any pitch, but we have found that it is more economical to turn agroove in the form of a continuous thread on a lathe. When this is done,it is necessary to use threads of opposite hand on the two rollers inorder to maintain the desired point-to-valley relationship.

Regardless of the procedure used for forming the grooves, the twoknurling rollers should be set sufiiciently close together so that thepoints are lined or overlapped slightly with the result that minute,closely spaced areas are pushed slightly out of the plane of the card inopposite directions, thereby imparting to the card a uniform pattern ofstrain.

In order more fully to understand the preferred arrangement of knurlingpoints, it is desirable to consider an arrangement which has been foundto work satisfactorily with standard punch cards used in a businessmachine and commonly referred as as IBM cards. Such cards are made ofdurable paper stock having a thickness t of approximately 0.0075 inchand a width of 3% inches. Such cards are supplied in several lengths,for example, an 80-column card of 7% inches and a 51-column card, alsoreferred to as a money order card having a length a 4% inches. Therollers which We have employed in treating such cards have a diameter of1% inches. The points are pyramidal in form, having an included angle a(Fig. 11) of approximately 90 and a point-to-point distance b ofapproximately 4 inch. The height 0 of the points is determined by theabove two dimensions and is approximately 0.031 inch. The points areproperly flatted by wire brushing or the like to a radius of about 0.005inch. The two knurling rollers are adjusted with respect to one anotherto produce an overlap d within the range of about 0.002 to 0.010 inch.In general, using the arrangement shown in Figs. 10-12, an overlapshould be used which is about midway between the two extremes. It will,of course, be recognized that the amount of overlap depends upon thedegree to which the points have been fiatted, and where the points arerelatively sharp a greater amount of overlap may be tolerated. Y

6 Our studies have shown that where a card is passed through theknurling rollers described above, it is subjected to a pattern of stresswhich includes both tension and compression, each carried beyond theelastic limit. The result is both localized bending and localizedembossment of the card structure. This is brought out diagrammaticallyin Fig. 12, which shows the effect of the knurling rollers upon a givenlongitudinal section of a card. Here it will be noted that minuteportions of the card are pushed slightly out of the plane of the card sothat the overall thickness t is increased by about 15 to 20%, which, inthe case of a standard business card corresponds to an overall thicknessof 0.009 inch.

Immediately after leaving the knurling rollers a card is passed to theironing rollers which have a normal spacing which is somewhat less thanthe desired thickness of the finished product. In the case of a standardbusiness machine card, it is found that a clearance between the rollersof 0.002 inch causes the deformation imparted by the knurling rollers tobe largely removed and the overall thickness of the card restored to thenominal value of 0.0075 inch. While the ironing rollers 103, 104 may, ifdesired, be smooth, we have found it desirable to roughen the entiresurface of the rollers, for example, by sandblasting or fine knurling toinsure that the leading edges of the cards are positively gripped sothat the cards are passed through without slippage or delay. After thecard leaves the ironing rollers, it is found that a slight overallpattern of embossment remains. This is shown in greatly enlarged sectionin Fig. 13. Such embossment is, however, barely visible and is not atall harmful to the structural integrity of the card or its ability tooperate satisfactorily in business machines.

A card treated in accordance with the above procedure not only liesperfectly flat, an important feature where the card'is to be used inedge-type feeding devices, but has the original thickness, outlinedimensions and shape in spite of the crumpling, spindling, creasing orother abuse to which the card may have been subjected. Furthermore, thecard has the restored snap and crispness which distinguishes a new card.The ability of the present device to maintain the original length andWidth should be particularly noted since the electrical contacts withwhich the card is used demand extremely accurate registration. It mightbe assumed, based upon Figs. 11 and 12, that the length and width of thecard would tend to shorten because of the corrugating action of thepoints. However, this is found not to be the case and in a practicalsetup the overall length, for example, is found to be reduced by onlytbout 0.003 inch, i. e., less than .05% of the card length, which iswell within the range of tolerance.

The unusual conditioning efiect which is brought about by the aboveprocedure, even in the face of sharp creasing and the like, is believeddue to the fact that the knurling rollers set up a strain patternbetween closely spaced points, i. e., points which are spaced from oneanother not more than about ten times the card thickness. Thisintentional and overall deformation is superimposed upon and takes theplace of the strains resulting from crumpling, creasing and the like.All strains in the card are reduced, so to speak, to the same commondenominator. By the subsequent ironing operation the intentional strainsare uniformly removed and the card is in condition for efiicient feedingin all subsequent machine operations.

While we prefer to apply an overall knurling pattern to a cardprogressively from one end of the card to the other, the knurlingpattern may, if desired, be applied only to selected longitudinalportions of the card at a time, with or without ironing between theseparate applications. An example of this is shown in Fig. 14 in whicheach of the rollers indicates a cooperating pair. In the first pair ofknurling rollers, indicated at 151, the pattern of knurling points is inthe form of three ribbons 151a, HM and 151s. Immediately after theknurling operation the card passes between a pair of ironing rollersindicated at 152, where the strains induced by the first knurling areremoved. Thereupon, the card passes into a second pair of knurlingrollers 153 having knurled portions 153a, 153b, the latter portionsregistering with the unknurled portions of the card and serving tocomplete the overall knurling pattern. As a final step, the card passesbetween ironing rollers 154 and the final result is similar to thatobtained from the ironing rollers 123, 124 in the embodiment previouslydiscussed. In addition to overall treatment, our invention alsocontemplates treating only the lateral edges of the cards as at 151a,1510. In this connection it is found that knurling the edges only tendsto rigidify to a surprising degree the entire card.

Having understood the knurling and ironing operation, attention may nextbe given to the gauging and deflecting arrangement which is shownschematically in Fig. 15. Here it will be noted that the gaugingcontacts 81, 82 are connected in series with a relay 160 having a set ofnormally open contacts 161. Such contacts are used to control theenergization of a solenoid 162 having a plunger 163. The plunger iscoupled to a card deflector or vane 164 having an operating arm 165 sothat when the solenoid is actuated the deflector tilts upwardly about ashaft 166 and into the path of movement of the oncoming cards. Thus,when a card having a nonstandard thickness, caused, for example, by astaple, piece of gummed tape or the like, is fed into the device, thecontacts 81, 82 in the gauging unit 70 are closed, thus operating therelay 160 and the solenoid 162. The particular card is, as a result,directed downwardly into a lower hopper 167 (Fig. 1), the deflectorbeing restored to its horizontal position by a return spring 168. Aftera plurality of such cards are collected in the hopper, they are removedand the ofiending staple or tape is removed by hand after which thecards may be fed through the conditioning machine in the usual fashion.It will be understood that the pickup and dropout characteristics of therelay 160 and solenoid 162 should be tailored to insure that the propercard is deflected without affecting the cards which precede and follow adefective one. For maximum reliability it may be found desirable toprovide a more elaborate control circuit to accomplish the above. Itwill suffice to say to one skilled in the art that the relay 160 may beprovided with a lock-in circuit for maintaining it closed until openedby arrival of a card at the deflector. Regardless of the specificcircuit which may be used, the manual adjustment combined with thedistance multiplicatien feature in the present device enables thegauging contacts to be adjusted with a high degree of precision.

If desired, a push button may be provided as at 170 in Fig. tointentionally pass a card which may fail to pass because of pinholes orthe like.

Alternative construction While the knurling and ironing unit describedabove has been found to operate satisfactorily, our invention is notlimited thereto, but would include other equivalent and improvedarrangements, for example, that shown in Figs. 16-21, inclusive. Brieflystated, this alternative embodiment is characterized by speciallysurfaced ironing rollers, a modified tooth structure on the knurlingrollers together with novel means for mounting and adjusting therollers. It will be understood that the knurling and ironing unit shownin Figs. 16-2] may be employed in the same environment as shown in Fig.1, it being sufiicient to elongate the casing two or three inches inorder to accommodate a second pair of ironing rollers. The details ofconstruction of the knurling and ironing unit are set forth in Figs.16-20, and Fig. 21 is a diagrammatic perspective which is intended tobring out the relationship of the rollers.

The modified knurling and ironing unit indicated at includes a pair ofside frames 181, 182. The latter are rigidly secured to the frame plates21, 22 by rigid spacers 183-186. The side frames 181, 182 have movableportions 181a, 182a, which are rigidly interconnected by cross members191, 192, and hinged along a longitudinal axis at pivots 193, 194, thepivots being mounted on the spacers 184, 186. Such arrangement enablesthe upper portion of the unit to be swung upwardly into the dottedposition (Fig. 18), which is desirable in order to remove obstructionsand to inspect and service the rollers. Normally, however, the upperportion of the unit is securely clamped in a seated position by means ofhold-down bolts or shackles 195, 196. Taking the bolt by way of example(Fig. 19), it will be noted that it includes a pair of stop nuts 197, aswell as a clamping nut 198 which engages an extension on the crossmember 191, as shown. At its lower end, the bolt 195 has a pivot 199which enables it to be swung laterally into an out-of-theway positionafter the clamping nut 198 has been loosened.

As shown in Fig. 21, the unit includes a pair of knurling rollers 201,202, a first pair of ironing rollers 203, 204, and a second pair ofironing rollers 205, 206. Having understood the frame construction,attention may next be given to the means for mounting and driving therollers. The lower rollers 201, 203, 205, are journaled in the lowerportion of the frame, while the upper rollers 202, 204 and 206 arejournaled in the upwardly swingable portion. Each of the rollers in theupper portion of the frame is mounted in a pair of vertically slidableblocks pressed downwardly by means of springs and having manuallyadjustable stops to limit the downward movement and to define the normalor operating position of the rollers. Taking the roller 202 by wayexample, the ends thereof are journaled in blocks 202a, 202b. Pressingdownwardly on the blocks are springs 202e, 202d. For the purpose oftaking up the reaction pressure of the springs, cap members 207, 208 areprovided which are anchored in place by suitable machine screws.

In order to limit the downward movement of the blocks 202a, 202b,adjusting screws 202 202g are used. Such adjusting screws are receivedin apertures provided in the cap members 207, 208, as shown in Fig. 16,and the lower ends of the screws are in threaded engagement with theblocks 202a, 2021). For adjustably bottoming the screws, each includes anut 20211 and 2021', respectively. It will be apparent that by adjustingthe position of the nuts 20211, 2021', the spacing of the roller 202relative to its companion roller may be adjusted with precision. Thesprings 202e, 202d are made sufficiently strong so that the upper roller202 does not yield when engaged by a card. Corresponding means areprovided for adjusting the upper ironing rollers 204, 206, correspondingparts being indicated by corresponding subscripts.

For the purpose of driving all of the rollers in unison, a gear train isprovided, as shown in Figs. 16 and 20. Torque is derived from a drivinggear 155, which is rotated by the gear train described in the precedingembodiment, and which in turn drives a gear 210 mounted on knurlingroller 201. At the opposite end of the knurling roller 201 is a gear 211which serves, by means of idler gears, to drive gears 212-206,inclusive, on the remaining rollers. The idler gears are indicated bythe numerals 221-224, inclusive. It will be apparent that since all ofthe gears are closely meshed together (Fig. 20), they are locked forrotation in unison and serve to rotate all of the rollers 201-206 atprecisely the same speed.

it is one of the features of the modified construction thatstraight-line adjustment movement of the upper rollers is employed,rather than adjusting the rollers about a curved or planetary path ofmovement. Referring to the diagram, Fig. 20a, 230 indicates thetheoretically desired path of adjustment of the roller 202 about theidler gear 222, while the line 231 indicates the straightline path ofmovement actually provided. It will be seen that the straight-line pathof movement is coincident over a limited range 232, the range 232 beinggreatly in excess of the range of adjustment normally required inpractice. The device is preferably designed so that the axis of theroller 202 is in alinement with the axis of the idler gear 222 when theroller 202 is properly set. Any minute departures from the idealcondition which occur during the course of subsequent adjustment arereadily absorbed by slightrelative movement of the gear teeth. It isfound in practice that a device constructed as shown may be operated forlong periods of time without noise and without noticeable wear.

If desired, the teeth formed on theknurling rollers 201, 202 maycorrespond to the teeth shown in detail in Figs. 11 and 12. We havefound, however, that it is desirable to employ a modified toothconstruction, and in accordance with one of the more detailed featuresof the invention, teeth are provided on the rollers 201, 202 havingflats which are longer in the peripheral direction than in the axialdirection, as shown in Figs. 22-24. The center-to-center distance b maybe about the same as previously described,'i. e., on the order of 4inch, and the angle a may be approximately 90. Flats are, however,provided having a length e of approximately 0.022 inch and a width 1which is substantially less than this. Just as in the previousembodiment, the teeth on the opposed rollers 201, 202 are offset fromone another pointto-valley. It is found that the modified toothstructure is particularly advantageous in treating cards which have beentransversely creased, as frequently occurs when such cards are carriedin pocket or wallet. Normally, a sharp crease is only a few thousandthsof an inch in width. Thus, when passing a creased card endwise throughthe knurling rollers, the crease will be spanned by at least a portionof the longitudinally extending flats, and it is found that this actiontends to rigidify the creased area to a greater extent than wheresymmetrical points are used.

Turning next to the ironing rollers, it is one of the aspects of thepresent invention that the rollers are provided with machined teeth, asshown in Fig. 21, and the enlarged sections, Figs. 25 and 26. This is tobe contrasted with the roughened or sandblasted surface used on theironing rollers in the preceding embodiment. Preferably, the teeth onthe first pair of ironing rollers 203, 204 are arranged in alined rowsjust as in the case of the knurling rollers, with an angle g of 90 and apoint-topoint distance h of approximately 0.040 inch. Thetips of theteeth on the two rollers clear with a spacing of approximately 0.0035inch and no effort need be made to establish any particular phasingbetween the teeth on the two rollers. In the case of the final set ofironing rollers 205, 206, the same general tooth arrangement is used,but the teeth are approximately half the size, having a point-to-pointspacing of 0.020 inch. The clearance between opposed teeth is preferablyabout the same as in the preceding set of ironing rollers, namely,0.0035 inch. It will, of course, be understood that the numerical valuesgiven above are to be considered as simply representative, and thatdepartures may be made in the spacing or shape of the teeth withoutdeparting from the present invention.

Our studies show that a card passed through the three sets of rollersundergoes a transformation, as indicated in Figs. 27, 28 and 29. A cardhaving a nominal thickness of 0.0075 inch upon being passed between thetwo knurling rollers 201, 202 set for a negligible amount of overlap,tends to assume a cross section indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 27,with adjacent portions 235, 236, 237 of the card being punched or offsetin opposite directions, as indicated. As a result of the knurlingoperation, the thickness of the card increases to approximately 0.012inch. The card is immediately thereafter passed between the ironingrollers 203, 204 having a clearance on the order of 0.0035 inch betweenthe opposed teeth. As a result of the compressive action between theopposed teeth, the adjacent areas 235-237 of the card which have beenoffset with respect to one another, tend to be compressed back into theplane of the card and the overall thickness of the card is reduced, as aresult of the first ironing operation, to approximately 0.010 inch.Because of the high unit forces existing at the points of engagement ofthe teeth, a shallow embossment of the tooth pattern is left on thesurface of the card, as indicated at 238, 239. When the card is passedthrough the final ironing rollers 205, 206, the offset portions of thecard are further compressed, hereby restoring the card to an overallthickness of 0.0075 inch and resulting in a superimposed fine pattern ofembossment, as shown in Fig. 29. p

The use of the tooth on the ironing rollers is found to have a number ofworthwhile advantages which may not be at first apparent. First of all,the teeth are relatively sharp so that the leading edge of the card isgripped immediately and positively. The card is thus accepted by andpassed between the ironing rollers without any delay whatsoever. Whileit is true that slightly toughening the surface of a smooth roller, asby sandblasting, provides a satisfactory grip, it is believed that themachined teeth are. preferable since the gripping action is largelyindependent of .wear and the accumulation of dirt and ink. Furthermore,the points on the ironing rollers, while spaced sufiiciently closetogether so as to provide a satisfactory ironing action, nevertheless,cause a concentration of force at many closely spaced points of limitedarea. Consequently, higher unit pressures may be developed at thesurface of the card than would be developed using a smooth roller havingthe same amount of total loading.

The embossment resulting from the points on the ironing rollers does notaffect the structural integrity of the card, and the pattern is so fineas to be almost invisible upon casual observation.

Experience has shown that the above-described arrangement is eminentlysuited for use in a bank or other business establishment. The machinemay be loaded and unloaded by unskilled personnel. It is capable ofhandling standard punch cards at a rate on the order of 275 cards perminute or over. Because of the speed and because of the fact thatundamaged cards are not injured in any way by the conditioning process,there is no necessity for manually selecting only the deformed cards forrunning through the conditioner. On the contrary, the process may beuniversally applied to all the cards arriving in the card processingdepartment and before the cards are fed into the sorting and tabulatingmachines. It is found that because of the rolling action whichcharacterizes the conditioning elements, the machine may be operated dayby day for months or even years without requiring replacement of parts.i

If desired, short and long cards may be intermixed without. requiringany adjustment in the feeding and knurling mechanism. Where mixed cardsare to'be fed, however, it is desirable to jog the stacks so that all ofthe cards have one end in alinement at the side of the stack. The stackis then inverted before being placed into the feeding hopper so that theleading edges of all of the cards effectively start from the same point.Or if desired 'the two sizes may be fed separately by providing elevatedplatforms in the feeding and receiving hoppers.

"While only the significant mechanical elements have been described, itwill be understood that the device may be equipped with switches forturning off the driving motor when the cards in the feeding hopper havebeen exhausted or when the capacity of either of the two output hoppershas been reached.

We claim as our invention:

1. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisessubjecting at least the lateral edge portion of the card to deformationat a plurality of closely spaced points distributed in a two-dimensionalpattern, such deformation being carried beyond the elastic 11 limit andthen subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufficient to restorethe card to substantially its original dimensions and shape when new.

2. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisessubjecting the card to combined tensile and compressive deformation at aplurality of closely spaced points distributed in a two-dimensionalpattern, such deformation being carried beyond the elastic limit toincrease the overall thickness of the card and then subjecting the cardto an ironing pressure sufficient to restore the card to substantiallyits original thickness and shape.

3. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisessubjecting the entire area of the card to localized deformation at aplurality of closely spaced points, such deformation being carriedbeyond the elastic limit to increase the overall thickness of the cardand then subjecting the card to an ironing pressure sufficient torestore the card to substantially its original thickness.

4. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisesapplying to the opposite faces of said card a two-dimensional pattern ofpoints at such pressure that the card is deformed out of its normalplane at each of said points beyond the elastic limit to increase theoverall thickness of the card and then subjecting the card to an ironingpressure sufiicient to overcome the deformation at each of said pointsto restore the card to substantially its original dimensions and shape.

5. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisesapplying an overall pattern of minute indentations to each side of saidcard with the indentations on one side being spaced between theindentations on the opposite side, the indentations serving to deformthe card out of its plane over small areas while keeping the cardsubstantially fiat, and then applying to said card an ironing pressureto restore the card to substantially its original shape and originaloutline dimensions.

6. The method of renewing a business machine card which comprisesapplying to said card a two-dimensional pattern of pressure pointsstarting at one edge of the card with the points applied successively tosuccessive areas of the card in rotation, the pressure at said pressurepoints being sufiiciently great so as to deform the card out of itsnormal plane at said points while keeping said card in substantiallyflat condition, thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card,and then subjecting successive areas of the card in rotation to anironing pressure to restore the card to substantially its originalthickness.

7. In a device for renewing a business machine card the combinationcomprising card feeding means for successively feeding cards one by onealong a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers at least one ofwhich has a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, a pair ofironing rollers closely spaced to one another for receiving the cards insuccession from said knurling rollers and for applying an ironingpressure thereto sufficient to flatten the card to substantially itsoriginal thickness and shape when new, and driving means for rotatingall of said rollers at the same peripheral speed.

8. In a device for renewing a business machine card the combinationcomprising card-feeding means for successively feeding cards one by onealong a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers each having atwodirnensional pattern of upraised points, with the points on oneroller spaced between the points on the other, a pair of ironing rollersclosely spaced to one another for receiving the cards in succession fromsaid knurling rollers and for applying an ironing pressure theretosufiicient to flatten the card to substantially its original thickness,said rollers having driving means coupled to said feeding means.

9. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, apair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having a surfaceformed with a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, means fordriving said knurling rollers in synchronism with the points on therespective rollers arranged in point-to-valley relation so that each ofthe points deforms a minute area on the card out of the normal plane ofthe card thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card and meansincluding a plurality of ironing rollers rotating in unison with saidknurling rollers and adjacent thereto, said ironing rollers beingclosely spaced to one another for restoring the card to substantiallyits original thickness when new.

10. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, apair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having atwo-dimensional pattern of upraised points on the surface thereof inrows alined axially and peripherally, means for driving said knurlingrollers in synchronism with the points on the respective rollersarranged in point-to-valley relation so that each of the points deformsa minute area on the card out of the normal plane of the card thereby toincrease the overall thickness of the card and means including a pair ofironing rollers drivingly coupled to said knurling rollers and closelyspaced to one another for restoring the card to substantially itsoriginal thickness when new.

11. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising'means for feeding the cards edge-to-edge in succession, apair of knurling rollers, each of said knurling rollers having a surfaceformed with a two-dimensional pattern of upraised points, said pointsbeing arranged in axial rows and with the points alined in the locus ofscrew threads of opposite hand on the two rollers respectively, meansfor driving said knurling rollers in synchronism with the points on therespective rollers arranged in point-to-valley relation so that each ofthe points deforms a minute area on the card out of the normal plane ofthe card thereby to increase the overall thickness of the card .andmeans including a pair of ironing rollers drivingly coupled to saidknurling rollers and closely spaced to one another for restoring thecard to substantially its original thickness.

12. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising feeding means for feeding the cards one by one in sequencealong a path of movement, means including a knurling roller having aplurality of upraised closely spaced points for applying to said card anoverall pattern of deformation, thereby to increase the thickness of thecards, means including ironing rollers for restoring the cards tosubstantially their original thickness and shape when new, means forreceiving the restored cards, and means interposed in the path ofmovement of said cards prior to said knurling rollers for recognizingand diverting from said knurling rollers cards having portions ofabnormal thickness.

13. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising means for feeding the card endwise and one by one along apath of movement, thickness measuring means for measuring the thicknessof each of the cards at the beginning of the path of movement, cardconditioning means including pressurized knurling rollers and ironingrollers for treating the cards near the end of their path of movement, acard receiver for receiving cards leaving said conditioning means, adiverter interposed ahead of said conditioning means and coupled to saidthickness measuring means for diverting cards having abnormal thicknessfrom said conditioning means, and another card receiver for receivingthe diverted cards.

14. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising a card feeder for supporting an angled stack of cards, meansfor intermittently feeding the cards edgewise and one by one from theunderside of the stack, card transport means for passing said cardssubstantially horizontally, a plurality of knurling rollers and aplurality of ironing rollers arranged in the path of movement of thecards, a card receiver located at the output of said ironing rollers andextending downwardly therefrom so that the cards discharged from saidironing rollers are formed into an upstanding pile fed from the top andin original sequence, and a diverter interposed between said cardtransport means and said knurling rollers, said diverter having meansfor downwardly directing cards having abnormal thickness, and anauxiliary card receiver having means for receiving diverted cards in apile fed from the top and in original sequence.

15. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising card-feeding means for successively feeding cards one by onealong a path of movement, a pair of knurling rollers having atwo-dimensional pattern of upraised points, means for driving theknurling rollers with the points thereof in meshing relation so thatminute areas of the cards are stressed beyond the elastic limit inopposite directions to increase the overall thickness of the cards, apair of ironing rollers closely spaced to one another for receiving thecards in sequence and for applying an ironing pressure theretosufiicient to flatten the card to substantially its original thickness,at least one of said ironing rollers having a roughened surface, andmeans for driving the ironing rollers in unison with the knurlingrollers.

16. In a device for renewing business machine cards the combinationcomprising card-feeding and transport means for moving the cardsedgewise along a path of movement, means including a pair of knurlingrollers for receiving the cards and for applying thereto a pattern oflocalized deformation to increase the overall thickness of the cards, apair of ironing rollers, and means for driving the rollers in unison,said ironing rollers having roughened surfaces spaced apart to define aclearance space which is less than the thickness of the cards when new.

17. The method of straightening and stiifening a business machine cardwhich has become creased, spindled, and worn, which comprises applyingto the major portion of the area of the card on both of its oppositesurfaces a two-dimensional pattern of minute spaced indentations withthe indentations on one side being spaced symmetrically between theindentations on the other side and with such indentations carried beyondthe elastic limit and to a depth which is just suflicient to deform thecard out of its plane opposite each of the points of indentation whileretaining the body of the card substantially flat and then applying tothe entire area of the card a progressive ironing pressure from one edgeto the opposite edge which is sufficiently great so that the indentedportions which have been deformed out of the plane of the card are againstressed beyond the elastic limit and returned to the plane of the cardto restore the card to its original thickness when new.

18. The method of straightening and stitfening a business machine cardwhich has become creased, spindled, and Worn, which comprises applyingto selected portions of the area of the card a two-dimensional patternof minute spaced indentations with the indentations carried beyond theelastic limit and to a depth which is just suflicient to deform the cardout of its plane opposite each of the points of indentation whileretaining the body of the cards substantially fiat, and then applying tosaid selected portions of the card a progressive ironing pressure fromone edge to the opposite edge which is sufiiciently great so that theindented portions which have been deformed out of the plane of the cardare again stressed beyond the elastic limit and returned to the plane ofthe card to restore the card to substantially its original thicknesswhen new.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS495,976 Iaeger Apr. 25, 1893 1,433,971 Roberts Oct. 31, 1922 1,687,441Grosjean Oct. 9, 1928 2,531,619 Gonia Nov. 28, 1950 2,663,050 Hilin Dec.22, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,611 Great Britain 1906 17,651 Denmark July29, 1913

